Revival!

Looking for Revival?  Read the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An1wVA9Cb4g

Am I Absalom?

This past month I was working on a video devotional that I do. This one is working through the story of David and I came to part of Absalom.  All that went well until the Holy Spirit began to bring a serious question to my mind.  That question was, "Are you like Absalom?"    Wait, what... no way!  That was my thought.  But the question lingered and there was more clarity.  Not with people but with God.   What the Spirit was getting at was do I sit around and mumble under my breath (or maybe not under my breath) that if I could change things it would be better.  You see, I realized when I am doing that I am being an Absalom to God.  I am trying to act like I could do it better than God.  God is Sovereign!  End of story!  But, do I think that if I was in charge there would be some things that would have been done different.  I would have been hired for that job, someone wouldn't have gotten sick or maybe some tragic event would have been stopped.  When I do this, I am trying to tell God I know better.  Well, I don't know better, He does!  I do not know what God is doing and why He is doing.  I must learn to trust Him and stop pretending that I know what is best.

Getting Sucked In

As a young boy, there were times when I would walk just on the edge of a mud hole or slippery slope only to fall in a get all messy.  But being a boy, I didn't mind.

God is warning Judah don't fall into the same harlotry that Israel is involved with, this is leading to destruction.

Hos 4:15 Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Do not let Judah become guilty; Also do not go to Gilgal,
Or go up to Beth-aven And take the oath: "As the Lord lives!"  NAS

Let this be a reminder to all of us who want to walk on the edge of the slippery slopes of life.  Don't!  You will get sucked into it.

Listen Up!

You better be listening to me, I remember those words coming to my ear by my father.  He has something to say and needed me to pay attention.  Listen up!  Critical words to all of us.

Sadly, Israel was not listening to God.  They thought they were getting away with doing their on thing.  God warns them that they are not getting away with anything.

Hos 5:1-2  Hear this, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the judgment applies to you, For you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out on gone deep in depravity, But I will chastise all of them.

One of the reason my father was stressing the importance of my listening to him was because there would be consequences if I failed to follow his instructions.

God is warning us.  Listen UP!  There are consequences when we fail to listen.

Easy Option?

Many times we like to choose the easier option.  However, if an athletic decides not to train because he wants the easy option he will not continue to be a successful athletic. Training is required.

The Lord warns Israel that they are choosing some easy (and wrong) options.

Hos 4:13-14  13 They offer sacrifices on the tops of the mountains And burn incense on the hills, Under oak, poplar and terebinth, Because their shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters play the harlot And your brides commit adultery.  I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot  Or your brides when they commit adultery, For the men themselves go apart with harlots And offer sacrifices with temple prostitutes; So the people without understanding are ruined.

They are choosing to stay on the mountains, they don't want to travel to the temple to worship as required.  But all of this easier option is leading them to having a lack of understanding.

I must ask myself, am I taking the easy road with my faith?  Am I unwilling to seek the Lord diligently?

Consider your heart, are you taking the easy road?

Where does your GPS Take you?

GPS can be great unless it takes you to the wrong address.  How can that be?  Well, sometimes there are streets with the same name.  GPS doesn't know which street you want so you are lead astray by the very thing that you thought was helping you.  When that happen you would be the first one to say that the GPS was useless.  However you don't usually find this out until you are not where you want to be.

Hos 4:11-12  11 Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding. 12 My people consult their wooden idol, and their diviner's wand informs them;  For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, And they have played the harlot, departing from their God.  NAS

God was telling the people of Israel and how they were being lead astray.  Consulting "wooden idol" or the "spirit of harlotry"  these things will lead us down the wrong path.  We will look at our life and see how far away were are from where we want to be.

We need to be submitting ourselves to God and His Word.

Have it Your Way

Children often want things their way.  They want what they want, when they want and how they want without any regards to knowing if it is really good for them.  Sometimes a parent must make the hard choice of letting their child "have their way" in order to teach them some valuable lessons that not everything they want is good for them.

God sometimes allows us adults to "have our own way" as well.  He lets us (with much sadness) learn that what we want will not provide what we expect.  We need to learn that He knows what is best.

Hos 4:7-10 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.  8 They feed on the sin of My people And direct their desire toward their iniquity.  9 And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds.  10 They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the harlot, but not increase, Because they have stopped giving heed to the Lord.  NAS

We better listen and obey the Lord's will for our lives and seek to avoid the desire to "have it our own way."